Question for Shahid Afridi, so why did you play Misbah ul Haq in all the games? He is almost 36 yrs old. The other senior people in the team are Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rahman, Shahid Afridi & Abdur Razzaq. Rest of the squad is below 30. Hmmmm. What should we make of this statement, dont bring back Shoaib Malik?
KARACHI: Unhappy with the performance of some senior players, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi has requested the national selectors to inject some young blood in the team for better results.
In an interview prior to the team’s departure for London from St. Lucia, the Pakistan captain expressed his dissatisfaction at the performance of some of his senior players during the recently-concluded World Twenty20. “It is time for some senior players to go because we can’t expect a good show from them anymore in future,” said Afridi.
Afridi feels that by grooming youngsters the team can get better results in the future. “There is no dearth of talent in Pakistan especially in the T20 format; the youngsters should be given a chance in the national team.”
Commenting on Pakistan’s thrilling semifinal against Australia, Afridi said he still couldn’t believe that his team had lost the game. “I haven’t seen such an unbelievable game in my career, the entire match changed in just 11 deliveries. The battle would long be remembered,” he said.
Counting the positives of the Caribbean safari, Afridi said unity among the players was the best he earned during the tournament. “Every player was united and everyone was fighting for victory, which is a great sign for team,” he said.—IANS
Afridi's captaincy left a lot to be desired, so he should say soemthing about that as well. Maybe time for him to go as well, he flopped along with Razzaq and Misbah.
ja right! one of the reasons given after team's whitewash chitrol in Australia was that many players were young and inexperienced and now comes the opposite reasoning. For every situation, they've ready-made excuses and scapegoats.
I think he is just attempting to divert the attention of critics from his failed captaincy. Just a BS, not a serious thought from him.
I still stand firm that Pak would have won the semi if he had adjusted the right bowlers at right time.
Afridi should be at the top of the line of seniors to be kicked out, he did almost nothing with bowl, next to nothin with the bat and failed as a captain. What else do you need to kick some one out.
All he is trying to do is to take attention towards Abdul Razzaq, Misbah and Sami. I dont think that Misbah had a fair chance of batting in the whole tournament apart from one or two games. So I wouldnt count him accountable for the compelte batting collapses. Abdur Razzaq did not deliver much with the ball, I only remember his one innings again New Zealand(correct me if I am wrong) where he actually delivered.
For Sami, I dont know what to say. He is, what he is..
seniority in terms of age or years in the national team? - in any case, he's prolly the first or second on the list of seniors in the team.
Razzaq wasn't even given a fair chance throughout the tournament... Misbah isn't exactly a senior since he hasn't been in the team on a consistent basis for as long as Afridi or Razzaq, and his poor form has been evident for a while now. So at the end of the day, Afridi himself is the senior most player in the team.
well, Afridi is the one of the oldest if not THE oldest member of the team... plus he is the one who carps most about seniority, how important respect for seniors is and how senior he is... so, maybe the mindless slogger should take his own advice and be the first one to go.
oh what a joyous day that will be. almost makes me cry with happiness.
^ 14 years to be precise which makes him the senior most player in the team. He made his ODI debut in 1996
Afridi's captaincy lacked imagination and innovation and he seemed lost during those final few overs against some relentless hitting by both White and Hussey. His field placings and bowling rotations in general left a lot to be desired. not to mention Afridi himself got a royal chitrol from White and Hussey. He should have varied his pace a little like bowling a faster one, a googly and an off break. The same sort of bowling was easy to take on.
Ajmal was bowling too fast and on leg and middle to Hussey. Afridi should have had a word with Ajmal at that point but he didn't. He was just clueless as captain, not inspirational at all.
Bad fielding: we gave away too many runs with our poor ground fielding. The fielders never showed the same urgency as England to save the ones and twos
Bad captaincy: I don't know why leg side is always open for runs when spinners are bowling!
Biggest person to learn from the defeat should be Afridi himself.
he is just trying to preempt. He has almost already put the blames on Misbah and Razzaq (who never really got a chance with the bat or ball during whole tournament). Afridi just wana make sure is the only established all-rounder in the team just in case there is a tie...
I have doubts about the authencity of this article. To my knowledge, Afridi has so far refrained from giving reasons for his teams short coming.
Also Abdul Razzaq is a fine all rounder and a match winner. He was the 'catalyst' that won us the WC2009. (Ironically he wasn't initially included in the team cause he had signed contract with the rebel league in India. He ended up playing three remaining must win matches which Pak ofcourse won) He might not have performed well in this tournament but that doesn't mean that he has got to go. Ever since he began his career, he has been in and out of team. I think only recently, since the start of T20s, he has managed to stay on team full time.
Let's see - seniors meaning Afridi himself, Misbah - who's been luggage for over a year now, Razzaq who no longer has any zip in his bowling and his batting is no better.....also while he's not senior..but he is a failure...Mohd Hafeez. Probably the best example of a club cricketer who will never make it at the senior level.
Why the likes of Umar Amin, Babar Azam, Hammad Azam, are not in the playing 11 is beyond me. Surely they can do a better job that the likes of Misbah and Hafeez can.
Anyway, theres no one left to Captain the team...so unfortunately Afridi is the only ODI and T20 choice at the moment.
^ If you watched last T20, there is no "zip" in Afridi's bowling either, lets not talk about his batting to keep it better. So his own place is in question.
^ If you watched last T20, there is no "zip" in Afridi's bowling either, lets not talk about his batting to keep it better. So his own place is in question.
I agree. Im not an Afridi fan, just stating the obvious. No one else can become the captain besides him at this point so we're stuck with him. For the record though, Afridi's bowling has been off since the Australia tour but before that he was still bowling well enough...although his batting has been pathetic.
Razzaq on the other hand hasnt done anything with the ball in over 3 years. Maybe he's missing his spinach.
I agree. Im not an Afridi fan, just stating the obvious. No one else can become the captain besides him at this point so we're stuck with him. For the record though, Afridi's bowling has been off since the Australia tour but before that he was still bowling well enough...although his batting has been pathetic.
We can't afford a player just because "apparently" he is the motivator/aggressive player. But without performance NO player will support him as captain for one more series. Just watch what happens this summer.
how about Afridi himself 